Motoring Down the Road | Peaches Prattlings

{August 19, 2014} It was a very, very, very, very, very…long drive

I drove about 9 hours yesterday and thought I only had about 10 left today, not so.

The day started off about 7:30am, I woke leisurely, well as leisurely as two cats let you wake. Nose on face, nose on hand, head pushes, ‘c’mon mom, time to get up, wake up, c’mon, c’mon”. Anyone with a cat will know what I’m talking about! This video screams it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrq03XENSdY

I got up, got breakfast and was ready to get on the road at 8:30, which I did, cats and all. I decided I would leave them in the carriers for a while so I could keep the top down on the car. Contrary to popular beliefs, cats do not find riding in cars with their heads hanging out the windows as entertaining as dogs, go figure.

As soon as I got on the road, the tire pressure indicator came on, I wasn’t sure what it was, so I had to Google it, I now know what all the symbols on my dashboard are, so if you need to know what any symbol for a VW Beetle are, here you go!

There were no service stations in the downtown Omaha area, so I got on the highway and pulled off for the first gas station I could find. When I got there, luckily, I found the air pump and got out of the car and lo-and-behold…the rear drivers side..almost dead. I started inflating the tire and it looked like it was starting to bubble and might possibly explode and again, contrary to popular belief, I’m smarter than I look and stopped pumping. I went inside to ask for help and guess what, the woman who worked there pointed me across the road to Paco’s Tires! Wahoo! Saved!

I went to Paco’s and they said, yup, flat and it could have exploded! There was a screw in it and then 30 minutes [total] later I drove out with a new tire and peace of mind!

I had the top down on the car for about two hours and then decided it wasn’t fair to the cats, or my ears as they were crying intermittently, so up went the top and out came the cats. No! Don’t sit on my feet, I still have to drive! I finally got them situated and was on my way again.

I listened to the radio, some pandora radio and then…I plugged in my phone and then iPad to the stereo jack and played a movie, putting the device on the floor, of course! But I listened to a movie, and since I know the movies so well, it was like listening to an old radio serial! One of the movies was even Haunted Honeymoon, which was based on a radio show! Clever me!

When I wasn’t listening to something, I got to chat with a few people, MM, Dad, JCT, JFT, SR, BD and BG, it was awesome, I had lots of time and could only concentrate on the road and my friends!

I drove and drove and drove and enjoyed myself, most of the time, the country is beautiful, boring in some places, but beautiful. I understand why JASC loves to drive so much, but honestly, I would rather have been on a plane getting there faster, unless I had company, then it would have been even more entertaining, but I wouldn’t have gotten to talk to so many people. Go figure.

I finally got to Debra’s house to drop off the cats, she so generously offered to keep them for me this week until I leave on Sunday. She even sent a picture of Jymy cuddling with her as I was heading to the hotel.

I finally got to the hotel about 12:30, after driving forever. I wish I knew exactly how many hours as I went through a few different time zones today! [Omaha, Nebraska, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, yeah, I think that’s it!]

Goodnight!

{August 17, 2014} Traveling with animals

It’s interesting.

Today, I packed up the car with some stuff, a cat box, food and two cats. How much do you think they liked that?

I picked up my car and cats to drive to Ann Arbor and then next week I will drive to my next project. Let’s just say they weren’t the happiest creatures; dogs, at least most of them, like going for rides in the car. Not so with cats.

After we wrangled each cat into a carrier, loaded the car and took off. The crying started. Who are we kidding, it started as soon as they were in their crates! After I was on the main highway and knew I was in for a long stretch, I let them out of their carriers and let them roam around, that seemed to help a little.

Peanut thought she needed to be at my feet or on my lap, the lap was fine and after a while she disappeared under one of the seats and didn’t come out until I got to the hotel. Jymy got on my shoulder like she did when she was a kitten and acted like a neck pillow for a while and eventually she sacked out on the passenger seat and slept there the entire trip.

I had no troubles when I got to rest stops or gas stations, they strayed right where they slept and never tried to get out and of course tried to stay in the car when we got to the hotel, go figure.

I’m in a pet friendly Hilton, which is great and I’m looking forward to having them with me on my next project, they’re calming…most of the time.

So…I drove about 9.5, maybe 10 hours today and have about 9 or 10 tomorrow with two cats, hopefully the crying won’t last too long…who wants to trade places with me?

{March 20, 2013} The end of an era

I may have exaggerated, but it feels like it.

Monday, I sold my motorcycle. Sigh…

I bought my bike, a Suzuki Savage 650 about 6 or 7 years ago, it had 4000 miles on it and on Monday, I sold it and it had 8500 miles, I know that’s so not much in terms of a bike, having it that long.

I am not a hard core biker by any means, I guess I am a fair weather biker, when its nice I liked to ride, when its cold, I’m good not getting on the bike, I have a car! And sometimes when it’s cold, drop the top on the car, crank the heat, you just don’t have that on the bike.

I loved that bike, please don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like riding, you get a different perspective being a little higher, and it’s a freeing sensation.

As I said, I didn’t ride it enough, as ED keeps telling me, I know, I know. He’s got chrome running through his veins, what can I say? He’s the one who gets the bike running when it dies.

I’ve been saying for a while that I need a new bike, partly because I can’t keep this one running, but also, I need something with a little more power, especially for riding on the highway. The 650 was a good bike to start with.

So, it was time to sell the bike. A friend of mine, JT, needed transportation, worked for Victory Motorcycles, so he is well versed at repairs and keeping them running. We struck a deal and off he rode.

As he was going, I called DCM to reassure me that I was doing the right thing; she would be taken care of, he would ride the bike often, make sure she was in good shape and I can put that money towards a new bike, something that is better for me and will get me out there to ride.

There is now a little more space in my garage.

So, THNG2, is gone, the end of an era…sign

{October 12, 2010} New Brakes are a Wonderful Thing

I had the brakes on my bike worked on by a great friend, EM [I’m going to refer to him as EM, his first name and where I met him, the Masquerade in Atlanta. I can’t call him by his initials ED, because all I think of is the other ED and he is so not that!]

It’s important to have your brakes checked and your entire bike serviced, just like your car. My brakes have squeaked since I got the bike about 6 years ago. I was told that they would squeak, nothing I could do about it. Not so… New brakes do not squeak.

So, here I am year after year, with squeaky brakes. Then recently, when I started riding again, they got worse and then I could feel that something was not right and I was right. I was only using the front brakes, I didn’t know that it was better to use the back brakes, so I was just using the front ones. I finally realized that I was grinding metal on metal, so at that point, I started using the back brakes exclusively.

Ok, so part of the reason I needed to use the back brakes, I say needed, is that I laid my bike down. I’m OK, so exhale. I am writing to you with all my limbs intact, my skin is still attached, my clothes are fine and my bike is still running. So, here’s what happened:

I was riding home, this was during the time I was still car-less, before Annie II came into my life. It was about midnight and raining, raining being a thing that does not go well with a motorcycle. The light changed, I applied the front brakes, hit some water and down we [myself and the bike] we went. The bike slid and I slid with it. We did a spin and landed in the same direction we started in, facing forward. Someone stopped across the road and asked if I needed help, I said I wasn’t sure, but I did lift the bike, which was what I had to do, that’s the first rule of riding a motorcycle, can you lift the bike from a dead stop or if it falls. Then I stood there for a moment, I think I was in a wee bit of shock, checked myself and looked around. A tow truck had stopped about 20 feet behind me, what are the odds, and a few cars stopped.

A few guys got out of those cars to check on me. One guy tested the bike to make sure it would crank and get into gear, asked me a few questions and when they realized I was ok, they took off. I am very appreciative that they stopped. It’s interesting that people will stop for a motorcycle more than they will for a car, which for a biker, is great. I rode home and got the bike in the garage and then I checked the damage, first to my bike and then to my person. I know you’re wondering why I would check the bike before me, well, I had to ride it to work the next day, had to be sure it would be alright, even though I rode it home. There were some scratches: the mirror, the foot peg, the windshield, but other than that, ok.

Next, I checked myself. I went into the house and slowly took off things. My gloves were in perfect condition, well, the snap on the side is bent, ok. I LOVE those gloves. They are black leather with red flaps at the wrist, I got them at a Harley dealership in Seattle, they were way discounted, I think I paid $15, originally about $60 and even though I am a lover of animals, I am happy that my gloves are leather, they will protect me. My jacket, which actually is “pleather” was in great shape, save a few scrapes on the left arm [I went down on my left side, by the way], and a tear, but all in all, intact. My jeans DID NOT HAVE A MARK on them! You would not have known that they were involved in a wreck. My t-shirt which was underneath two layers had a few teeny holes on the right side, that was strange and my sweater had a hole in it. My sweater… it was my mom’s cashmere sweater, black and I have been wearing it every winter [the only cashmere that I can handle, normally it’s too itchy] and I was wearing it under my jacket on the bike, there is a hole right in the middle of my forearm.

Then I assessed my personal injuries… My left forearm, where the sweater has a hole in it had a right nice scrape, it was black in the blood, I was a little freaked out, to say the least, then I realized it was fuzz from the sweater! I cleaned out the scrape, I knew I had to do that. I used soap and water and then peroxide, neosporin and put the biggest band-aid on it I could find. That was really it.

Until Tuesday… then the bruises started to show and the bruise on my left hip is something you do not want to see… I think it’s cool, but it’s my leg and I have been watching the colors develop. Imagine people’s reaction when they see it at the gym or scuba, it’s something. Bruises started showing up all over my person, on my legs and each arm, in the most unusual places, but they are starting to fade and my forearm? That is my first road rash and I am going to wear that scar with honor! I am very proud of myself, no not for the accident or the bruises. I am proud of myself that I had the accident and I was able to get up, pick up the bike, make it home and get back on the bike again, have to get back on that proverbial horse again when you get thrown, right?

I was sore the next day, a bit more than I was from the car wreck, but I remembered to take a muscle relaxer the night before and the anti-inflammatory pills that I had left over and in a few days, I was alright.

They say there are two classes of rider: those who have laid their bikes down and those who are going to… guess which category I fall in to? EM said it would happen again, not looking forward to that, but I hope I am confident that I will handle it just as well.

This is all part of my exploration of myself and I think I’m turning into an alright chick!

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